"Ray of Light" (1998): MADONNA - Era Review | Diva Discography {Part 2}

In our part 2 episode of Madonna’s “Ray of Light” (1998) celebration, Angie and Steffi break down the era. We discuss the “material girl to spiritual girl” narrative, motherhood, and why this may arguably be our favorite Madonna era.    In our Era Breakdown episodes, we touch on so many topics like career context, controversies/scandals of the era, marketing, music videos, live performances, album stats, and the album & era’s ultimate impact and legacy. For this episode, we discuss how Madonna was in her “spiritual girl/finding myself” era, her infamous VMA performance, cultural appropriation and how “Ray of Light” ultimately solidified Madonna’s legitimacy as an artist. Again, this is part 2 of the conversation! So make sure you listen to part 1 where we discussed the album track by track.We hope you enjoyed our Madonna “Ray of Light” journey!Album Info: Ray of Light is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released in early 1998 by Maverick Records. A major stylistic and aesthetical departure from her previous work, Bedtime Stories, Ray of Light is an electronica and techno-pop record which incorporates multiple genres, including ambient, trip hop, art pop, psychedelic music and Middle Eastern music, while also seeing Madonna singing with greater breadth and a fuller tone. Mystical themes are also strongly present in both the music and lyrics, as a result of Madonna embracing Kabbalah, her study of Hinduism and Buddhism, and her daily practice of Ashtanga yoga.DIVA DAILIES SOCIAL MEDIA:Twitter | Instagram | TikTok*Email us for show notes: divadailiespod@gmail.comSTEFFI’S SOCIAL MEDIA:Twitter | Instagram | Tiktok | YouTube | LetterboxdANGIE’S SOCIAL MEDIA:Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | LetterboxdTIME STAMPS:- Intro Disclaimer: (00:00)- Housekeeping (01:15)<br />Era Breakdown (03:08)- Pop Corn & Pop Stars (05:11)- Spill the Technicolor Tea (23:33)- But We Need the Audience to Buy the Album (43:57)- Video Killed the Radio Star (54:10)- The Mic Is On (63:26)- Show Me the Receipts (70:44)- Impact/ Closing Thoughts (83:21)- Preview Next Week’s Episode (91:00)